


ncth0ts

by rendawnie, shuuvee



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon Compliant, Ficlet, Ficlet Collection, Headcanon, If I tagged everything it would be ridiculously long, M/M, Short, Swearing, some nsfw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-23 18:19:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 14,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16164302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rendawnie/pseuds/rendawnie, https://archiveofourown.org/users/shuuvee/pseuds/shuuvee
Summary: A collection of the most popular headcanons posted on @ncth0ts' Tumblr! See the first chapter for more details about applying to be an admin!~





	1. Introduction

Hello! We are ncth0ts, a (currently) two-admin team writing and posting NCT ship headcanons, fics and drabbles on Tumblr. In an effort to make our work visible to an even more writer-friendly audience, we've decided to cross-post some of our favorite and more popular headcanons and drabbles here on Ao3.

We are currently looking for a third admin to help us with the growing number of requests in our inbox, and we figured there'd be no better place to try and find a fantastic author than right here.

If you are interested in applying for the open admin position, more information can be found [here](https://ncth0ts.tumblr.com/post/178558981257/ncth0ts-adminwriter-recruitment-hi-were), and applications are open now!

If you just want to read the work posted here, we're happy to have you, and feel free to follow our [Tumblr](https://ncth0ts.tumblr.com/) as well. Thank you so much for checking out our small stories!

 

Jinx & shuuvee


	2. Ballet Beauty (Markhyuck)

  * “I hate ballet,” Mark groaned, collapsing his head into his arms in the middle of the dinner table.
  * “It can’t be that bad,” Jeno murmured. “Maybe you’ll meet a cute girl.”
  * “Jeno.”
  * His friend chuckled a little. “A cute girl who has an even cuter brother.”
  * “ _Jeno._ ” 



* * *

  * Mark didn’t think it was possible to sink into his seat any further. 
  * He loved his sister, okay? It was the only reason he begrudgingly agreed to go to a ballet recital. But he wasn’t gonna pretend that he liked or enjoyed this, that’s for sure. Especially because he was stuck in the first row. His very not-straight self was entirely uninterested in the parade of girls filling the stage. 
  * Completely uninterested.
  * Mark kept slipping into his chair, his back basically resting on the bottom of the seat, his head burying into the backrest.
  * He rolled his eyes and groaned, gaze drifting toward the last dancer to walk out.
  * The very male, very  _pretty_  ballet dancer lightly glided onto stage, his fluid and taut movements instantly causing Mark to stiffen in his seat.
  * He sat up straight, his eyes locking with the ballet dancer boy’s eyes.
  * Mark nudged his sister’s friend in the elbow. “Who’s that?” he whispered. “The boy on the end?”
  * “Oh, him?” she whispered. “That’s Donghyuck.”
  * “Hmm,” Mark mused, trying not to think how the tight ballet fabric hugged the boy –  _Donghyuck’s_  – thighs. 
  * Or how Donghyuck kept looking at him, even when the recital started.
  * Donghyuck’s half-lidded eyes were A Lot, Mark had decided.
  * The way his body moved, light and seamlessly flowing from one move to the next was also A Lot.
  * Not to mention when he moved up to the front and winked at Mark.
  * Honestly? He was just about to lose it. Mark could feel the butterflies getting louder in his stomach, and he just  _had_  to talk to Donghyuck after the recital.
  * After thirty minutes of pure bliss, of pure fascination with everything about Donghyuck, Mark was snapped out of his Donghyuck-induced trance by the lights slowly turning back up.
  * While the dancers filed off stage, he scrambled out of his seat. Donghyuck lingered near the edge of the stage, hopping off and sauntering over to Mark.
  * Mark wasn’t sure what he was gonna say.
  * He hadn’t thought that far in advance. 
  * And now with Donghyuck and his beautiful bronzed skin standing right in front of him.
  * Well, Mark’s brain was failing him.
  * Completely failing.
  * And falling for Donghyuck.
  * “I’m Mark, and I, um –”
  * “– You sat in the front row,” Donghyuck finished, his voice as light and airy and attractive as his body during the ballet dance.
  * “Uh, yeah –”
  * “– And you kept watching me.”
  * “No! Um, no, no way –”
  * “– Did you wanna try ballet dancing?”
  * Mark didn’t have an answer for that. He didn’t have an answer for anything. He just kept staring at Donghyuck’s effortlessly beautiful face and hair and everything about him. 
  * “You’re really pretty,” he breathed.
  * Oh god.
  * He couldn’t believe what just came out of his mouth.
  * And Donghyuck seemed equally shocked, his smirk replaced by his lips parting into an ‘o’ shape.
  * But he quickly recomposed himself.
  * “And you’re coming to a whole lot more ballet recitals, Mark,” Donghyuck hummed, kissing Mark on the cheek.




	3. Talk Dirty to Me (Luwoo)

  * “Yuk _heiiiiiii_ …” Jungwoo whined into the phone, voice already raspy from breathing hard
  * Yukhei gripped the phone tighter, staring across the nearly-empty bakery with panicked eyes
  * “Jungwoo,  _please. I am on the clock_.”
  * On his end of the line, Jungwoo giggled
  * “I know. It’s my favorite time to mess with you.”
  * Yukhei stared at the ceiling, praying for help from whoever would listen
  * “You’re insatiable, y’know that?”
  * Another giggle. “Mmm.”
  * Yukhei considered his situation.
  * It was barely eight in the morning
  * He’d only been at work for two hours
  * Right before he’d left, he’d fucked Jungwoo into their mattress with abandon, because Jungwoo had begged for it
  * And now Jungwoo was calling him on  _the actual phone they used for work_ , tying up the line with his breathy moans and knowing pleas
  * Across the bakery, Mark was staring at Yukhei with a smirk on his face
  * Yukhei frowned, sticking his tongue out at his co-worker and taking his phone call to the back kitchen, instead
  * Mark used to be so innocent
  * Yukhei wondered how much of the recent changes in his young co-worker were more or less directly the fault of he and Jungwoo and Jungwoo’s friends
  * But, he didn’t really have time to care about that right now
  * Jungwoo had heard the slam of the kitchen door behind Yukhei, and he knew he was about to get his way
  * “Yukhei, please… I have a show this afternoon… I wanna get all riled up for it…”
  * “ _Christ_ ,” Yukhei muttered, shoving his long body onto the nearest cool, metal workstation, phone still held to his ear
  * Sometimes, he wondered if dating a camboy was more trouble than it was worth
  * For his  _dick_
  * He flipped over onto his back, blinking at the bright, fluorescent lights above him
  * “It doesn’t take anything to get you riled up, baby,” Yukhei protested. “It’s one of your nicest qualities.”
  * Jungwoo snorted. “Thanks, I think.”
  * Yukhei didn’t say anything for a moment, and neither did Jungwoo, but Yukhei could still hear everything going on back at their apartment
  * Hear it, and  _imagine_  it
  * He could hear Jungwoo’s breath hitch every so often, probably as he stroked himself slowly, lazily
  * The way he liked Yukhei to do it when they took their time
  * _Of course  
_
  * Of course Jungwoo would take his time right now
  * He didn’t have a care in the world
  * Especially not about Yukhei’s current, extremely fragile position
  * Yukhei’s current position involved trying to curl into himself on the table and will his boner away as hard as he could
  * “Just keep talking to me, Yukhei. I don’t care what it’s about. I could get off to you reading the phone book.”
  * Despite himself, Yukhei smirked at that
  * He knew he had a good voice
  * He knew how much Jungwoo liked it
  * Jungwoo just wanted him to talk? He could do that.
  * Yukhei sat up and hopped off the table, wandering around the kitchen as he began to speak
  * “I’m working on a new flavor of cupcake today.”
  * Jungwoo moaned softly, and Yukhei nearly laughed out loud, but that might have ruined the moment
  * “It’s uh… dark chocolate…” Yukhei purred, stirring around the batter in front of him idly as he talked
  * “Dark chocolate and what?” Jungwoo panted out, soft voice even huskier now
  * Yukhei grinned. “Cherry,” he answered in a rumbly tone, popping one into his mouth. “I know how much you like cherries, baby.”
  * “Fuck,” Jungwoo cursed, breathing faster
  * “So far the test batches have come out pretty good,” Yukhei said. “Really moist and the juiciest cherries…”
  * Jungwoo let out a strangled little whine, one Yukhei could feel pulsing between his legs
  * “Can you take a break, Yukhei? Please?” Jungwoo begged
  * Yukhei glanced at the clock again. “Now? You want me to come home?”
  * “ _Please_. I need you.”
  * Yukhei didn’t even care that Jungwoo was totally winning this round of morning phone sex
  * Or that he might get in trouble for bailing on work two hours in
  * He didn’t care about much of anything except Jungwoo, and Jungwoo needed him
  * Yukhei liked when Jungwoo was needy.
  * He tore off his apron quickly, jogging back to the kitchen door
  * “I’ll be there soon, baby.”
  * Yukhei hung up the phone, slapping it down on the front counter as he grabbed his jacket
  * “Gotta go, Mark!”
  * Nearby, his co-worker rolled his eyes
  * “Already? It’s not even nine!”
  * Yukhei grinned, shrugging
  * “Duty calls, my dude. Back soon!”
  * With that, Yukhei ran out of the shop as fast as his sex-hungry brain would allow him.




	4. Daydreams (Markhyuck)

  * Haechan was the worst sun spirit in existence.
  * It was ridiculously ironic – he was well aware of that! A name that means full sun and bronzed, glowing skin. 
  * Yet he can barely get up before noon, requires at least three cups of coffee to function for the rest of the day, and is often grumpy.
  * So basically the opposite of the sun.
  * He wasn’t always like this; he used to get up early and maybe not sass as many people as he does now.
  * (Jk, he was always sassy)
  * But ever since the coffee addiction started, his sleep schedule has been ridiculous.
  * And every time he walks into that damn coffee shop at 12:30, he’s reminded of why he’s grumpy.
  * Rather,  _who makes him grumpy_.
  * Enter Mark.
  * Goddamn Mark.
  * (Goddamn Mark who doesn’t like to wear shirts with sleeves so he can show off his damn arm muscles while barista-ing)
  * Mark makes his damn coffee nearly every day of the week, but he always seems to screw something up about his order.
  * You see, Mark is a daydream spirit. His mind is constantly elsewhere. Even while placing his order, Mark is only half there.
  * (Meanwhile, Haechan is fully there – if  _there_  means hyper-focused on how kissable Mark’s lips look)
  * Of course he had to fall for Mark, a daydream spirit of all boys.
  * Haechan’s used to getting looks all the time. It’s part of being a sun spirit, glowing, bright, the source of all attention.
  * But Mark is  _always_  off in his own world, missing a sugar one day then cream the next.
  * Haechan silently stews, watching as Mark is literally the only person in this damn coffee shop who doesn’t seem to notice him.
  * Or remember his name. Nope, Mark just draws a damn sun on his coffee cup, which is ridiculously rude.
  * There are other sun spirits, asshole! Why did he have to get all smitten for this one boy who can’t even remember his name.
  * One day Mark is taking especially long to make his order. By the time Mark puts his coffee on the counter, Haechan is stewing and is ready to give Mark a piece of his mind.
  * “Yo, Mark!” he shouts, barely catching the other boy’s attention. “You know my name isn’t ‘Sun’ right?” he interrogated, pointing toward the sun on his coffee cup.
  * “You probably forgot the cream this time, too,” he muttered.
  * Mark is actually focused on him for once, his eyes not darting around or glazing over like they usually do. Mark stutters, pointing toward the sun on Haechan’s coffee cup.
  * “Your name is  _Haechan_ , which means full sun. That’s why I fill in the sun every time. Because it’s full.”
  * Haechan’s taken aback. Mark  _did_  know his name. But that didn’t change the fact that Mark didn’t know his order, that he never got it right.
  * “T-then why do you always get my order wrong!?” he countered, trying to still seem half-angry even with how damn cute Mark looked while he was pouting.
  * “I – I’m sorry,” Mark murmured, looking down. “I’m just always daydreaming, I can’t help it.”
  * “What could you  _possibly_ be daydreaming about all the time,” Haechan replied, irritation evident in his voice.
  * “You.”




	5. Second Chances (Markhyuck)

  * For something he’d been dreaming about all semester, Donghyuck really wasn’t handling this very well.
  * Mark Lee,  _The_ Mark Lee, the most popular guy in the entire school, was about to kiss Donghyuck for the very first time
  * And Donghyuck? Donghyuck had a serious case of the giggles.
  * He didn’t know where it was coming from, really
  * It’s not like this was his first kiss
  * Semi-far from it, actually
  * But…
  * This may have been the first kiss he cared so much about, and now his brain was in full-on traitor mode
  * They’d only been dating for a week, okay?
  * A week wasn’t nearly enough time to be used to… well,  _anything_
  * Donghyuck wasn’t used to Mark driving him to school every morning and taking him home each afternoon
  * He wasn’t used to Mark walking him to every class 
  * He wasn’t used to eating lunch at Mark’s table (with the Cool Kids)
  * And he definitely hadn’t had any time, at all, to get used to the fact that he was alone in the empty band hall
  * With Mark Lee
  * (His boyfriend, Mark Lee)
  * And Mark had that dopey look on his face that he only seemed to get around Donghyuck, and he was leaning forward and pursing his lips, and
  * Donghyuck couldn’t help it.
  * Mark ended up planting a kiss on thin air, because by that time, Donghyuck was doubled over, helplessly laughing his ass off
  * It was all just too surreal, okay??
  * A week ago, Donghyuck had thought Mark didn’t even know he existed
  * Until they got stuck in the library together, studying, when the power went out one afternoon 
  * That’s when Donghyuck found out that Mark was afraid of the dark
  * That’s when they spent almost an hour sat close together, Mark practically shaking, while Donghyuck tried to calm him down
  * After that, after the lights came back on and they parted ways, everything was different
  * Mark started showing up a lot more
  * He started smiling at Donghyuck and talking to Donghyuck and telling Donghyuck he looked nice 
  * Even when he’d woken up too late to brush his hair and had toothpaste on his cheek
  * Then, he’d asked Donghyuck out
  * Donghyuck’d had a stroke and said yes
  * And now he couldn’t stop laughing and Mark was starting to look confused and embarrassed and–
  * _Oh._
  * Belatedly, Donghyuck realized it might have been an inappropriate response
  * It hit him, actually, when Mark shoved his hands in his pockets and walked away without another word
  * Donghyuck walked home by himself that day
  * He texted Mark and apologized
  * Mark brushed it off, saying it was okay
  * But then, he didn’t say anything else
  * Two days passed, and Mark was still taking Donghyuck to school and driving him home, but they didn’t talk
  * Mark didn’t hold his hand anymore, didn’t look at him the same way, like Donghyuck was all the stars in the sky, all at once
  * Donghyuck knew he’d messed up
  * It would take a gesture to make things right
  * And that’s how he found himself on the football field one evening during practice, two days after The Incident
  * He marched right across the field, drawing on every last bit of his confidence to get him through this
  * “MARK LEE!” Donghyuck yelled, because honestly? They all looked the same with helmets on. Oops.
  * One of the helmets whipped around at the sound of Donghyuck’s voice
  * _Aha._
  * Narrowing his eyes, Donghyuck strode up to Mark, determined
  * He reached up and yanked on Mark’s helmet, hard
  * …in all the times he’d gone through this plan in his head, this hadn’t been part of it
  * …why were helmets so hard to remove??
  * “ _OW!!!”_ Mark screeched, undoing his helmet and taking it off before Donghyuck could accidentally decapitate him
  * “What the hell, Hyuck??”
  * Donghyuck didn’t answer him
  * Not with words
  * Instead, he took a deep breath and leaned up on his tiptoes, and he kissed Mark
  * He kissed him good, kissed him for all he was worth, until Mark’s hands were around Donghyuck’s waist and he was growling softly under his breath and pulling Donghyuck closer
  * Faintly, Donghyuck heard whoops and hollers from the rest of the football team
  * Mark didn’t seem to care, so Donghyuck decided not to, either
  * When they finally had to break apart, gasping for air, Mark gazed down at Donghyuck in amazement
  * “What was that for?” he asked breathlessly
  * Donghyuck smiled. “I thought I deserved another shot at our first kiss,” he answered, and Mark laughed
  * “I think it went better.”
  * Donghyuck agreed.
  * “Can I drive you home after practice?” Mark asked next
  * Donghyuck nodded.
  * “Can we keep practicing our kissing in your car?” he questioned, making Mark grin
  * “As much as you want, baby.”




	6. Oblivious (Markhyuck)

  * “You know.”
  * “I know what,” Mark replied absentmindedly, his feet dangling over the edge of the couch in the Dreamie’s living room.
  * “You know that  _Donghyuck_ ,” Renjun continued, placing extra emphasis on their bandmate’s name, “has been spending a lot of time with Yukhei lately.”
  * “Oh,” Mark shrugged. “That’s cool.”
  * When Renjun sauntered away with a weird look plastered on his face, Mark didn’t think much of it. Renjun was known for being cryptic and unreadable, and Mark had stopped trying to figure the small mysterious boy out for a while now.
  * Until…
  * “Hey Mark, have you noticed that Donghyuck’s been hanging out with Yukhei a lot?” Jaemin asked one day out of the blue. There was no prelude, no lead-in, and Jaemin was usually a lot more predictable than Renjun.
  * “You know, Renjun said the same thing,” Mark answered, looking out the window of their SUV. Chenle and Jisung were passed out in the back, and the rest of the Dreamies were in the other car.
  * Jaemin nodded. “Yeah, that’s because it’s true. I haven’t seen Donghyuck without Yukhei glued to his side.”
  * Mark grunted, leaving Jaemin looking a little disappointed for some reason.
  * When  _Jeno_  brought it up, he decided that Donghyuck and Yukhei must be a real thing. Or almost a real thing.
  * “Maybe we should try to hook them up?” Mark suggested, earning a panicked look from Jeno. Leave it to Jeno to gossip but not want to involve himself at all. 
  * “Um, no, I don’t think –” Jeno started to say.
  * “Let’s get Jaeminnie and Injunnie in on this too,” Mark quickly added, sensing that Jeno would be no help in making Donghyuck x Yukhei real. He practically dragged Jeno to Jaemin and Renjun’s room, interrupting whatever it is that Jaemins and Renjuns do.
  * To Mark’s surprise, all three of them were mum, either trying to shoot down Mark’s ideas or failing to come up with any of their own ways to get Donghyuck and Yukhei together.
  * “You guys are usually all for messing with Donghyuck. What’s up?”
  * Silence. Deafening silence.
  * Renjun finally spoke up. “Y’know, we just really don’t think it’s a good idea to get involved in relationships. Like it’s going too far.”
  * Mark narrowed his eyes. “Wow, have these two really made you soft?” Mark teased, shaking his head. Renjun looked like he was dying to say something, but Mark decided to just move on. “Fine then.”
  * He gave up on the whole Donghyuck and Yukhei thing for the next few days. Partly because he didn’t really see Donghyuck and Yukhei together, like,  _at all_ , and partly because he also didn’t see one of them individually either. 
  * And then Donghyuck cornered them after one of their vocal practices one day.
  * “I heard that you tried to get Jaemin, Renjun, and Jeno to help you hook me and Yukhei up,” Donghyuck casually commented, glancing over toward Mark to gauge his reaction.
  * Which was, of course,  _shock_.
  * “They told you about that? God, those little–”
  * “–Of course they told me about it,” Donghyuck countered, turning to face him. “Do you really think all three of them  _happened_  to notice me and Yukhei within, like two days of each other? Renjun, maybe, but Jeno’s more innocent than Jisung, and Jaemin is busy loving Cizennies to much to pay much attention to anything else.”
  * “Are you – what  _are_ you trying to say, Donghyuckie?”
  * Donghyuck shook his head. “You’re so dense, Mark. I got all three of them to say that to get you jealous.  _Over me_.”
  * “… Jealous?”
  * “Mark, do you really think I like Yukhei as more than friends?  _Do you think that I’d like anyone more than I like you?”_
  * Mark was speechless, but Donghyuck did most of the talking anyways. Donghyuck closed the distance between the two of them.
  * “The only person more innocent than Jeno?” the younger boy continued.
  * Donghyuck leaned in until their heads were almost touching, planting a short, sweet-tasting kiss on Mark’s lips that Mark was not physically or emotionally ready for. But,  _god_ , he loved it. 
  * “ _You_ ,” Donghyuck finished, before leaving Mark alone in the training room. But Mark realized that he wanted more, and his brain finally caught up with what Donghyuck was saying.
  * “Wait, Donghyuck! Get back here! –”




	7. The Eye of the Beholder (Nohyuck)

  * Jeno’s been wandering the aisles of the trendy cosmetics store in the mall for a while
  * He’s not quite sure what he’s looking for, but he needs  _something_
  * Something to help hide the blemishes on his face, because he can’t exactly walk around wearing a mask  _all_  the time
  * “Hi, can I help you?”
  * The voice that sounds from behind him is soft and lilting, and it makes Jeno pay attention
  * When he looks up, the cutest boy he’s ever seen is looking back at him with an earnest smile and glitter smudged at the edges of his eyes
  * Jeno looks away before he starts blushing too much
  * “Um, maybe?”
  * The boy’s smile widens
  * “I’m Donghyuck. Would you like a free consultation?”
  * _No_ , Jeno wants to reply
  * _I can’t let anyone, let alone someone like you, see me like this_
  * “Okay,” he says, letting Donghyuck lead him to a small station with a vanity and a single chair in the corner of the store
  * “You’ll need to take off your mask,” he says gently.
  * Jeno starts panicking internally
  * “I’d…I’d rather not,” he replies, struggling for the words. “I’m sort of having a breakout right now…”
  * Donghyuck’s smile turns even sweeter
  * “Let me see, handsome.”
  * Jeno lets him unhook the loops of his mask from behind his ears carefully, head lowered as Donghyuck puts it out of reach
  * Donghyuck tilts Jeno’s face up with one hand, and he’s still smiling
  * He doesn’t look disgusted at all, actually
  * Jeno’s kind of amazed
  * Donghyuck bites his lip in concentration, eyes darting over every one of Jeno’s features
  * “Wow. You really  _are_ handsome,” he murmurs, and Jeno is  _definitely_ blushing now
  * “Nah…”
  * Donghyuck gives Jeno a light slap on the cheek, not hard enough to hurt, but enough to make him shut up and pay attention
  * “You are.”
  * Jeno frowns. “But I’ve got all these zits,” he mutters unhappily.
  * He hasn’t even noticed that Donghyuck’s been working this whole time, applying makeup with a quick, light hand
  * Donghyuck steps away a moment later. “Take a look. All I see is a cute boy.”
  * Jeno glances up at the mirror, almost afraid of what he’ll see, but when he notices what Donghyuck’s done, he can’t help but be shocked
  * Sure, Donghyuck gave him some foundation and a little help with concealing his breakout, but not too much
  * Instead, he concentrated on the rest of Jeno’s face, accentuating his eyes with shadow and liner, and playing up his lips with just the right amount of stain and gloss
  * He gazes up at Donghyuck with wide eyes and no clue what to say
  * Donghyuck crosses his arms proudly, grinning
  * “You don’t have to hide your imperfections. You just have to make people notice the parts of you that  _are_ perfect.”
  * Donghyuck is a very good salesman
  * Jeno ends up walking out of the store with a bag full of products that he purchased from Donghyuck’s long list of suggestions
  * He doesn’t notice what else he walked out with until he’s going through the bag at home, scanning the receipt
  * At the very bottom, Donghyuck wrote his phone number, with a little heart drawn on each side
  * Jeno tosses his mask to the side and forgets about it for the rest of the day
  * He forgets about everything else except Donghyuck and his sparkly eyes and the way he made Jeno feel perfect, even with his imperfections.




	8. A Dream (Markhyuck)

  * “Doyoung, I don’t know what I did wrong.”
  * “You didn’t do anything wrong,” Doyoung cooed, stroking Donghyuck’s hair while sitting on the couch next to him. “You absolutely didn’t do anything wrong, Hyuckie.”
  * “Then why won’t he talk to me, Doyoung?” Donghyuck whimpered, leaning into Doyoung more. “He just – whenever he sees me, he walks away and talks to someone else, Doyoungie. He hasn’t talked to me all week, and – and I don’t know what I did.”
  * “You really… you really didn’t do –  _Taeyong!_ ” Doyoung shouted over his shoulder. Donghyuck tried to lean into him more, and Doyoung let him.
  * “Doyoung, what’s wrong?” Taeyong hollered back, walking into the room. “Why is Donghyuck…”
  * Doyoung sighed and Donghyuck hiccuped. “Taeyong, you need to get Mark in here right now.”
  * “But why would –”
  * “ _Taeyong_ ,” Doyoung snapped.
  * “Yes babe, I’ll go get him.”
  * “Good,” Doyoung replied before returning back to stroking Donghyuck’s hair. “You did nothing wrong, Hyuckie – we’re going to make sure that Mark tells you that now.”
  * “But – but  _Doyoung_.”
  * Before Doyoung could answer him, Taeyong was dragging Mark into the room by the collar, parking him right in front of the couch. Doyoung gently lifted Donghyuck off of his shoulder, making sure he was comfortable while getting up. “Mark, you need to talk to Donghyuck. And I swear to god if you don’t, I will personally kick your ass.”
  * “But –”
  * “ _Mark_.”
  * Mark stopped protesting, and Doyoung left him all alone with the boy who had managed to crush his heart.
  * Yeah, crushed.
  * “Why did I –”
  * “Why won’t you talk to me, Mark.”
  * “That – that’s not what –”
  * “It’s not true?” Donghyuck countered, his voice getting higher and louder. “You walk into any room I’m in, turn around, and head straight back out.”
  * “That’s not what happened, I would –”
  * Donghyuck shook his head. “Why don’t you want to talk to me, Mark? What did I do to you?”
  * Mark looked down and folded his arms. “I – you didn’t do anything, I just –”
  * “– You just what? You couldn’t talk to your best friend anymore? You couldn’t stand being around… being around me?”
  * “No, Donghyuck! No, absolutely not.”
  * “Then why –” Donghyuck continued, his voice getting weak and low. “Why do you keep –”
  * “Because…” Mark interjected, his voice getting hoarse. “Because I’m upset I’m leaving Dream.”
  * Donghyuck blinked, feeling his anger flare a little. “So you – you take it out on me!?”
  * “No!” Mark replied. “No, I just… I’m upset I’m leaving  _you_ , Donghyuck.”
  * “… Me?”
  * “You,” Mark repeated. “I – I never wanted to play favorites, but, um, you know, I just…”
  * “You just what?”
  * “I… I love you, Donghyuck. More than I can put into words, Hyuckie. And even if we’re still in 127 together, I just – I feel like it’s unfair that I have to leave Dream, that I have to leave  _you_  even though I love you. And I don’t even know if you love me.”
  * Donghyuck stared up at Mark, who was looking down at the ground. Finally, he didn’t seem to have any words to lob at Mark. Actually, he didn’t seem to be feeling anything; it was all too surreal.
  * Mark slowly took a seat on the other end of the couch.
  * “And, um,” Mark continued, “And I feel so  _stupid_  because I wasted all the time that we did have together in Dream flirting with you but not actually  _loving_  you.”
  * Mark finally looked up, glancing over at him. At this point, Donghyuck could barely see anything through the tears welling up in his eyes.
  * “Please forgive me, Donghyuck. I – I screwed up,” he choked out.
  * Donghyuck felt a tear roll down his cheek.
  * “You can always start loving me now,” he whispered.
  * Mark’s lips parted a little, like the older boy wasn’t expecting him to say something so tender.
  * Donghyuck decided to close the distance between them on the couch, hopping sideways with his butt. Mark started laughing a little because, well, it looked so  _stupid_ , and Donghyuck couldn’t help but join him with his own heavy, sad-sounding giggles.
  * It took a few bounces, but by the time Donghyuck was within arm’s reach of Mark, the older boy pulled him in, planting a kiss on his lips.
  * “It’s a start,” Donghyuck breathed when they pulled back.
  * “How many more of those do I owe you to make up for it?”
  * “I don’t know, at least 500.”
  * Mark paused. “I was thinking more like 5000.”




	9. Kings of Fanservice (Johnjae)

  * Johnny and Jaehyun were still holding hands when they got on the elevator back at the dorms
  * They’d held hands and giggled all the way home
  * But when the elevator door closed and Johnny finally let go of Jaehyun’s hand, Jaehyun felt…
  * Disappointed, maybe?
  * He wasn’t sure
  * He just tried to hide it as best he could
  * “Kings of fanservice!” Johnny crowed excitedly, pumping one fist in the air and grinning
  * Jaehyun made himself grin and laugh back
  * “Yeah. Kings of fanservice.”
  * They fell silent after that
  * The elevator ride took longer than usual
  * People getting off and on and a lady accidentally pressed the wrong button and carried them back down a few floors
  * But finally they were alone again
  * Jaehyun could feel Johnny watching him
  * They knew each other well enough by now that hiding feelings wasn’t an option
  * Except?
  * Jaehyun had been hiding some feelings in particular for a long time
  * Like, years
  * “Hey, Jae?” Johnny started to ask, but then Jaehyun couldn’t stop himself
  * He muttered right over Johnny’s words, so that his own were all but drowned out
  * Johnny didn’t let it go
  * Of course he didn’t
  * “Sorry, bro. What did you say?”
  * Jaehyun winced at their normal, casual name for each other
  * At first, he wasn’t going to repeat himself
  * He would just think of something stupid and say that instead
  * If he could think of anything stupider than the truth.
  * (He couldn’t)
  * (He said it anyway)
  * “I said, what if it wasn’t.”
  * Jaehyun was whispering
  * The elevator dinged again
  * They were finally at their floor, and Jaehyun was more than ready to bolt out and go back to his room and avoid all of this
  * Except…
  * Johnny jammed his finger on the button to close the door again, sending it back down to the very bottom floor
  * Jaehyun stared at his feet
  * “What if  _what_ wasn’t?” Johnny pressed
  * Jaehyun let out a little sigh, giving up
  * “What if it wasn’t fanservice.”
  * He had no intention of elaborating. He’d already said too much
  * The silence hung between them for a moment, and Jaehyun was about to try again, to try to deflect
  * But suddenly Johnny was crowding his side of the elevator and pulling Jaehyun close and tilting his face up and then
  * They were kissing.
  * Johnny’s kisses weren’t timid, like Jaehyun’s would have been if he’d done this
  * His lips were hot on Jaehyun’s, full of desperation and bravery and Jaehyun was almost ashamed of the way he moaned into Johnny’s mouth
  * Almost
  * Except he wasn’t, because Johnny moaned back and pushed him against the elevator wall harder and
  * Neither of them noticed when the ride stopped again, back at the top floor
  * They didn’t notice when the door slid open
  * But they sure as hell paid attention to the dolphin shriek that came out of one of their youngest members who just happened to be waiting in the hallway
  * Johnny and Jaehyun went skidding apart from each other immediately, both of them turning to stare at Chenle with wide eyes
  * “HOLY SHIT,” the youngest of them cackled. “Holy shit. I gotta. I gotta tell Mark. I gotta tell  _everyone._ We’ve been waiting for this  _forever!”_
  * With that, Chenle went screeching down the hallway
  * Neither Johnny nor Jaehyun had recovered enough to say anything yet
  * But after a moment, Johnny slipped his hand back into Jaehyun’s and led him off the elevator, squeezing it as they walked down the hall slowly
  * They could hear screams of glee behind the door, and both of them knew what they were in for the minute they walked in
  * Jaehyun kind of just wanted to stay out here forever, just he and Johnny
  * He glanced up, and he was about to tell Johnny so, but the older smiled down at him, his eyes crinkling at the edges
  * “I think we’ve done enough avoiding for the time being, don’t you?”
  * Jaehyun blushed.
  * “Yeah. Probably,” he agreed, and he let Johnny open the door for them.




	10. Cheater (Markhyuck)

  * “Donghyuckie! Donghyuckie, I –”
  * “ _Busy_.”
  * And Donghyuck stormed off toward his room, pushing past the other members who had congregated in the hallway like this was some sort of spectacle. 
  * Yukhei in particular looked like he was trying to kill him with his glare. Which was completely and totally out of character for the normally bubbly, effusive boy. 
  * Mark frowned. “That was weird.”
  * Doyoung and Taeyong shook their heads, sauntering off to the kitchen. Meanwhile, Yukhei furrowed his brow and tutted, and it was  _really_  starting to peeve Mark.
  * “What – what was that all about?” Mark asked, studying Yukhei’s face for a reaction.
  * Spoiler: his reaction was utter disgust. “I hope you’re happy with yourself.”
  * Yukhei marched down the hallway, heading toward Donghyuck’s room. Mark just stood there, flatfooted and unsure of what to do with himself. So he went to his room, deciding that Mark and Taeyong wouldn’t have much to say.
  * What the hell could’ve happened between now and the first episode of Beyond the Blankets airing?
  * The next day, everything seemed to return to normal.
  * Well, mostly.
  * Donghyuck was more distant. Yukhei was short with him and exclusively him. Taeyong and Doyoung seemed fine for the most part, but he could tell there was tension with just about everyone at the dorm. 
  * He tried to push past it, afraid to ask what happened.
  * And he did power it for the most part.
  * But… well… he missed his best friend. He missed Donghyuck. He missed their late-night gossiping and couch cuddling and one-sided bantering.
  * Donghyuckie actively avoided him, ensuring that Mark could never corner him, could never demand to know what was going on.
  * Exactly one week after the first weirdness, Mark was returning home from the Wanna One dorm. He decided to watch the airing of the new episode with Daniel, and it was late when he got back.
  * He had posted a picture of the Wanna One boys earlier in their group chat, but… oddly enough… no one responded.
  * And when he got home, Yukhei was waiting for him in the living room, Donghyuck squeezed up into his side.
  * As soon as Mark walked in, Yukhei looked over, and tugged on Donghyuck’s arm. He locked eyes with Donghyuck, whose eyes grew wide and then instantly narrowed. The younger boy pushed himself off the couch and walked to his bedroom wordlessly.
  * “Welcome home, cheater,” Yukhei muttered, his teeth gritted and deep voice surprisingly short. 
  * “What?” Mark breathed. “Cheat – cheater?”
  * “Yeah.  _Cheater_. Aloping with Kang Daniel.”
  * “I think you meant eloping,” Doyoung hollered from the kitchen, clearly listening in.
  * “ _Cheating_  like the  _cheater_  you are!”
  * “This – this is about Daniel? I was just –”
  * “SO YOU ADMIT IT!” Yukhei shouted, leaping off of the couch.
  * “Admit what?” Mark stammered. “I’m so… so confused.”
  * Doyoung appeared from the kitchen and stopped near the hallway. “Donghyuck likes you, dumbass.”
  * “HE LOVED YOU!”
  * Mark stepped backward, trying to pace himself from all of Yukhei’s… energy. “He… did?”
  * “He does,” Doyoung clarified. “And all he’s heard you talk about for the past two weeks is Daniel. So naturally…”
  * “You’re  _cheating_.”
  * “I –” Mark started, “I’m  _not_  cheating, I – I, um…”
  * “You should tell Donghyuck,” Doyoung interjected.
  * Mark’s gaze darted between Doyoung and Yukhei, finally deciding that he did in fact need to deal with this. Right now. Immediately. Before Yukhei literally ripped his head off like he knew the larger boy could. “If you break his heart, Mark, I swear to  _god_ ,” Yukhei growled.
  * He didn’t wait for the rest of Yukhei’s threat, practically sprinting to Donghyuck’s room.
  * “Donghyuckie?” he breathed. “You in here?”
  * Mark heard Donghyuck’s voice from the pile of sheets on his messy bed. “Go away,” it said.
  * “What?”
  * Donghyuck pulled the sheets off his bed and looked directly at him. “I said go away!” the younger boy shouted, his eyes glossy and his voice biting and upset. He looked angry, and it  _broke_  Mark.
  * “Donghyuckie –”
  * “– Don’t call me that,” his bandmate demanded.
  * Mark paused. “Donghyuckie,” he repeated, “please… tell me what’s wrong.”
  * “What’s wrong!” Donghyuck shouted, getting a little hysterical, his voice hitching a bit. “What’s wrong, Mark? You mean other than you liking taller, older boys with broad shoulders and abs and a deep voice and a Busan accent? Other than all those things, Mark?”
  * Mark immediately frowned. “You’re right… I like Daniel, Donghyuck.”
  * “Then leave me  _alone,_ cheater!.”
  * “I like him  _as a friend_. He’s my  _friend_ , Donghyuck. Do you… do you know who I love?”
  * Donghyuck didn’t respond, his frown steadfastly remaining on his face while a single tear started snaking down his cheek.
  * “I love a boy from Jeju with an adorable lisp and a beautiful singing voice. A boy who always has something witty to say, who always knows when I need a shoulder to lean on. I love a boy who has so much charm and is so handsome with his beautiful face and body that I didn’t even once think about Wanna One’s visual like I thought about him. No, because I love a boy who cares for me so much.”
  * Donghyuck was starting to break, his frown faltering and his eyes widening.
  * “I love a boy who… who I think loves me a lot too.”
  * “I – I do,” Donghyuck squeaked, looking down.
  * “I love him so much that I would never cheat on him,” Mark finished. “And – and it hurts me so much that I hurt him.”
  * Donghyuck broke. The tears started flooding down his cheeks, and Mark took that chance to practically run toward Donghyuck’s bed, pulling the younger boy down onto his sheets and wrapping him in a tight hug.
  * Donghyuck let everything out while Mark kissed his forehead and nose over and over again. “I love you,” he whispered.




	11. Skin (Markhyuck)

“Do you like it?” Donghyuck asks softly, stretching his arms above his head until the new piercing tugs a little and he has to let them down slowly. He doesn’t really need an answer, not with the way Mark is staring at him with adoration splashed across his face, but he wants one anyway.

Mark lifts one hand without meaning to, then puts it down again. He can’t stop looking, gazing, can’t believe Donghyuck is really all his. He wonders if he’ll ever believe that a creature like Donghyuck  _wants_ to be his.

But he does.

Donghyuck’s standing next to Mark’s bed, and he’s wearing a fuzzy cropped sweater and tight pants and he has a thin choker around his neck and shimmery, coppery eyeshadow smudged onto his lids. He has all that, but now there’s something new: a little flash of sparkle through his navel, and Mark’s so fucking in love with all of him that he barely knows what to do with himself.

“It’s so beautiful,” Mark breathes quietly. He can’t take his eyes off the exposed bronze skin of Donghyuck’s belly. He doesn’t want to. “Does it hurt?” 

Donghyuck chuckles a little, nodding. “Yeah.”

Mark licks his lips, barely aware of what he’s saying. “Can I…?”

He trails off, not knowing what he wants, not understanding how he could possibly pluck one idea out of the clouds that crowd his brain anytime Donghyuck’s around, and most of the time he’s not, too.

“Can…” he tries one more  time, and Donghyuck doesn’t make him finish. He nods again.

“Just be careful, okay?”

Mark nods back, his hands moving up on their own to wrap around Donghyuck’s slender hips, one on each side. Donghyuck’s pants are slung so low that all Mark’s touching is bare skin, smooth and warm and made of gold, because Donghyuck is always golden, always otherworldly. Mark feels so ordinary next to him sometimes, but he likes it. He likes everything about Donghyuck.

Taking a deep breath, his fingers tightening and pressing into Donghyuck’s hips a bit harder, Mark leans forward, carefully brushing a kiss just above Donghyuck’s newly pierced bellybutton. It makes Donghyuck gasp softly, his own fingers threading themselves through Mark’s hair gently, petting him almost like one would a cat. Mark hums low in his throat, leaning into the touch as he places another kiss on each side of Donghyuck’s navel.

When he glances back up, Donghyuck is blushing, eyes closed and teeth dug into his bottom lip. His head’s tilted to one side and he’s lost in enjoyment just as much as Mark is, and this is how Mark knows they’re perfect. Two imperfect people, but when they’re together, Mark feels perfect all the time. He couldn’t ask for anything more.

His next kiss lands somewhere below the piercing, somewhere along the line that leads down to Donghyuck’s pants, and it makes Donghyuck nearly mewl, his small moan going throaty and high-pitched and his fingers tighten in Mark’s hair and–

“Love you,” Donghyuck mumbles suddenly. Mark’s positive he’s not aware he’s said it. They haven’t said it to each other before, not out loud, and Mark doesn’t want to call attention to it unless Donghyuck is okay with it. Instead, he leans back a little, the salt and sugar of Donghyuck’s skin still on his tongue, and pulls him down onto the bed, being careful not to hurt him, and they stay like that, in each other’s arms, for a long time.

When Donghyuck says it again, his lips are kiss-swollen and his voice is sleepier but he’s present, he’s  _with_ Mark for every syllable and so Mark says it back, because when you’ve felt something for so long, holding it in the pit of your stomach starts to ache.

The relief between both of them hangs in the air over their heads, and Donghyuck lets Mark place a sweet, warm hand over his tender belly as they fall asleep together.

Mark dreams of Donghyuck’s sparkling, shimmering skin.


	12. Mercy (Markhyuck)

  * Renjun shook his head in disbelief, pulling his hand back from Donghyuck’s. “You’re the biggest dumbass in the entire world, Lee Donghyuck.”
  * Donghyuck scoffed at the notion that, out of the four of them,  _he_ was the dumbass. Last week, Jeno tried to eat the plastic decoration on their celebratory first-week-of-promotions cupcakes. Jaemin walked straight into a lamppost this morning. Hell, even Renjun almost got in the 127 SUV this morning.
  * He was  _far_  from the dumbest one here.
  * “I don’t know, Mark seems pretty whipped,” Jaemin absentmindedly commented, pecking away at his phone. “His ringtone is your high note in  _Go_ , Donghyuck.”
  * Jeno looked up from his own phone, leaning into Jaemin a little. “Yeah, and he lets you kiss him more than Renjun lets anyone kiss him – and he’s dating  _two_  boys.”
  * Oh, and then there were the merits of the actual bet, which Jaemin and Jeno so graciously brought up for him. Mark Lee was completely, entirely, 100% whipped for Donghyuck. He wasn’t stupid; he saw Mark stealing glances at him during performances, he knew that Mark gave him extra helpings of food when 127 ate together, and he even heard Mark mumble his name once while he was sleeping.
  * Renjun rolled his eyes. “Mark has to be the one to initiate the PDA, though. And there are only, what? Three more days of promotions. Donghyuck’s toast.”
  * Donghyuck scoffed again. “Three days is more than enough time, I have Mark so whipped that he doesn’t know which way is up even though our song is called  _We Go Up_ ,” he wryly commented, sitting next to Jeno and Jaemin. “Besides, even if I do lose, how bad could Renjun be for a month?”
  * Jaemin and Jeno both shot worried glances at each other before mumbling half-assed assurances to Donghyuck.



* * *

  * Three days went by in a flash, and Mark was stubbornly un-clingy.
  * And this was from the boy who usually hang off of him like a koala when the cameras turned off.
  * Donghyuck had racked his brain for strategies to rile Mark up – from cute to pretty to hot and everything between.
  * The first day post-bet, Donghyuck volunteered to do aegyo during their Vlive, and Mark didn’t even bother to pinch his cheeks afterwards. He had never felt so cheated in his life: he threw his already high-pitched lilting voice an octave higher just to have Mark maintain a stone-cold shocked face for three minutes while Jaemin and Jeno and Chenle roared with laughter.
  * The second day post-bet, he tried to go the pretty route. He begged the stylists to let him wear his favorite outfit from this comeback season, even though it kinda clashed with the rest of the boys’ outfits. After bribing his noona with coffee, he was also able to get her to spend extra time on his eyeliner and his makeup, trying to accentuate his beautiful bronzed skin. Mark took one look at him and seemed to mentally steel himself for the rest of the performance, trying like hell not to see Donghyuck ever again.
  * The third day post-bet, he settled on trying to be hot. They didn’t have any activities, but Donghyuck put on the skinniest pair of skinny jeans he had – the one with tears at the knee and along his thighs. He put on his eyeliner even heavier than yesterday and rolled up his sleeves, taking extra care to even talk with a little more of a Jeju drawl. After about five minutes of seducing Mark, the older boy excused himself back to his room… for the rest of the day.
  * Maybe Renjun was going to win?
  * Donghyuck only had one day left, and nothing was working. He had tried everything he could think of – except cheating.
  * Getting up extra early, he went over to the Dreamie dorm, picking up breakfast along the way. He burst into Jaemin and Jeno’s bedroom, brown paper bag with two croissants and a beverage holder with three coffees in it, two of them with quadruple espresso shots for Jaemin.
  * “I need a favor,” he quietly asked, throwing one of the croissants at an excited-looking Jeno. “I need you to get Mark to kiss me.”
  * Jaemin looked up at him, nearly choking on his coffee. “You’re bribing us? This is blood coffee?”
  * “ _I didn’t kill someone to get you coffee_ ,” Donghyuck protested. “I just need your help and the coffee is here to remind you just how good of friends we are.”
  * “Sounds like blood coffee,” Jeno muttered.
  * Donghyuck frowned. “Fine. You know what? I’ll just accept Renjun’s punishment.”
  * Jaemin and Jeno were silent as he stormed out of the room, sulking his way into the kitchen where Renjun was making toast. “So bribing those two dumbies didn’t work?”
  * “It wasn’t a bribe!” Donghyuck shouted. “Ohmygod, it was friendship coffee.”
  * “Right,” Renjun mused. “Well, I’m looking forward to you doing my laundry every day for a month. And how do you like the sound of cleaning the bathroom with a toothbrush?”
  * Donghyuck groaned loudly, not even bothering to look over toward the door when it swung open. He didn’t register anything other than the sinking thought of being beholden to Renjun until Mark wandered right on up to him and kissed him on the cheek.
  * “You look cute today, Hyuckie~” Mark sing-songed. “Hi Renjun, are Jaemin and Jeno in their room?”
  * “Yeah,” Renjun replied, but Donghyuck still couldn’t believe that he did literally nothing and Mark just kissed him on the cheek in front of the one person who needed to see the PDA the most.
  * Mark disappeared down the hallway, leaving a smug-looking Renjun, who was happily spreading cream cheese on his toast, and a completely-shocked Donghyuck.
  * “What… what just happened?”
  * Renjun giggled. “Isn’t it obvious? C’mon Donghyuckie, even  _I_  know how evil I am when it comes to punishments. Besides, seeing your face when I said the toothbrush thing?”
  * The shorter boy jabbed a finger in his direction. “Priceless.”




	13. Blanket Fort (Jaenoren)

  * Renjun, Jeno and Jaemin have been college roommates for a month
  * Their apartment only has two bedrooms, so Renjun volunteered to sleep on the couch
  * Even though he’s the oldest, he’s also the smallest
  * It makes sense
  * He likes his roommates
  * Sometimes
  * They’re loud and obnoxious and always trying to cuddle him at the worst possible times (AKA always, in Renjun’s eyes)
  * But
  * They’re okay, he guesses
  * Besides, they make sure Renjun never  _actually_  sleeps on the couch
  * Every night, he’s pulled into one of their bedrooms by one of the two sleepy, soft boys he lives with
  * And it’s only a matter of time before the other joins the cuddle pile
  * School isn’t as awful as Renjun thought it would be
  * Until the results come back for his first ever exam
  * They’re bad
  * Like,  _real_  bad
  * When Jeno and Jaemin come home that day, they find Renjun sitting on the floor dejectedly, clutching his exam paper
  * It’s covered in bright red marks
  * Jeno and Jaemin had a whole plan for their evening, something involving Overwatch and minimal socialization that’s not via headset
  * But it’s forgotten immediately when they see Renjun with a big frown on his face, knees pulled up to his chin and test paper in his hand
  * Jeno makes dinner while Jaemin sits with Renjun and tries to cheer him up
  * His ideas mostly consist of trying to give Renjun kisses on his cheeks and on his forehead while Renjun flails and throws hands
  * Jeno manages to cook without burning the place down
  * A miracle in itself
  * They sit on the floor with Renjun and have noodles
  * Renjun tries really hard to eat with that big frown, but it doesn’t exactly work, so he settles for a light pout after a while
  * It’s kind of adorable
  * After dinner, Renjun still won’t get off the floor, until Jaemin and Jeno team up with a tickling for the ages, sending Renjun scrambling onto the couch
  * Which is good
  * It gives them room to make a killer blanket fort on the floor instead
  * They use every pillow, blanket and cushion in the house
  * Jeno leaves an opening in the front so they can see the tv
  * They put on Renjun’s favorite movie and curl up on either side of him to watch
  * Halfway through the movie, Renjun actually laughs out loud at his favorite scene
  * Jaemin’s so relieved that he knocks Renjun onto his back with a hug
  * When he pulls away, Renjun’s just sort of staring up at him, flustered
  * Jaemin doesn’t know why, but he leans down and kisses Renjun softly before he can think it through
  * To his surprise, Renjun kisses him back, reaching up to pull Jaemin closer after a moment
  * Jeno just watches, smiling happily and waiting for his turn
  * He gets it when Jaemin falls asleep halfway through the second movie
  * Renjun has been snuggling into Jeno’s arms for a good ten minutes, their noses brushing together every time he looks up
  * After the fifth time Renjun’s eyes meet his, Jeno lets their lips brush together instead
  * Renjun returns the kiss happily
  * Jeno tries to make a smooth move of holding Renjun closer, but he gets a little too excited and pushes them both into a sleeping Jaemin instead
  * Jaemin groans loudly, but doesn’t wake up
  * The mood’s kind of done, anyway
  * The movie too
  * All three of them end up sleeping in the blanket fort that night
  * They wake up a mess of limbs and bedhead
  * But then Renjun smiles sleepily at Jeno and Jaemin and they can’t help smiling back because he’s happy again 




	14. A Kiss on the Cheek (Markhyuck)

  * “Why won’t you let me kiss you?” Donghyuck pouted, circling Mark while he was walking through the living room after their vlive. 
  * This had been their thing for the past few weeks.
  * Months?
  * Years, actually, now that Mark was thinking about it.
  * “Why won’t you stop asking me on live broadcasts?” he finally replied, sighing a little.
  * Donghyuck pouted even more, which Mark didn’t think was possible.
  * (It definitely had nothing to do with the fact that Donghyuck was the actual sun and Mark loved happy and sunny Donghyuck.)
  * (Nope, nothing.)
  * “Because you won’t let me kiss you,” his brown-haired bandmate moped in response. 
  * “Well, if it weren’t on a live a broadcast…” Mark muttered.
  * “… Then you’d let me kiss you?” Donghyuck finished, the tone of his voice rising with hope and anticipation. The younger boy then moved closer to him, puckering up his lips and aiming for Mark’s cheek.
  * (Or maybe his lips?)
  * (Oh god maybe his lips.)
  * Mark quickly responded by pushing Donghyuck away from him, maybe a little too harshly. He didn’t really know his own strength after working out with Jaehyun the past few weeks.
  * What he didn’t expect was for Donghyuck’s look of utter sadness and defeat, his bandmate’s eyes glistening with tears before he quickly shuffled away back toward the bedrooms.
  * Oh no.
  * Oh no oh no oh no.
  * This was not what he wanted.
  * This wasn’t what he wanted at all.
  * Mark stood there in the living room, dread and guilt washing over him. He went too far, he pushed Donghyuck too far away.
  * He  _loved_  Donghyuck, but he didn’t want the other Dreamies to feel like he loved them less. He was the leader, he had to treat them equally.
  * So he pushed Donghyuck away, but this time he went too far.
  * And Taeyong saw the whole thing that just happened.
  * “Mark, I swear to god, if you break Donghyuck’s heart one more time, I’m going to personally kick your ass into another dimension,” Taeyong muttered, massaging his temples.
  * “You – you saw, um, all of that?”
  * “Saw it. Heard it. Been hearing it,” Taeyong recounted. “Every time you push Donghyuck away, I have to console him for at least a few hours.”
  * “You – you do?”
  * Taeyong sighed again. “Listen here. I don’t care what dumbass idea you’ve got stuck in your head where you think you can’t let Donghyuck show you  _any_  affection, but you need to fix this. You need to let Donghyuck in because it’s hurting him.”
  * “And I think it’s hurting you, too,” Taeyong added.
  * Mark swallowed hard, looking down at his feet. 
  * He needed to make this right.
  * Taeyong patted him on the shoulder and Mark instinctively went straight to Donghyuck’s room, gravitating toward the Donghyuck-shaped pile of sheets on the younger boy’s bed.
  * “Donghyuckie, I’m sorry,” Mark started, sitting down at the foot of his bed. “ _Really_  sorry,” he corrected.
  * No movement from the pile of bedding.
  * “I – I, um, just didn’t want Renjun and Jeno and the others thinking I didn’t like them as much. But that’s wrong. I do like them. But I  _love_  you.”
  * The pile of bedding shifted a little.
  * “And, uh, I’d be  _really_  happy to get a kiss from you, Donghyuckie.”
  * Donghyuck’s covers shuddered again.
  * “Really?” the bedding replied.
  * “Really really,” Mark repeated.
  * Donghyuck reluctantly uncovered himself from the sheets, tear-stains still evident around his eyes. Donghyuck slowly leaned toward Mark and kissed him on the cheek, delicately rushing back, as if Mark was going to hate it.
  * (Spoilers: he didn’t hate it.)
  * Mark didn’t know what he was missing out on – he had no idea what he had been missing out on for all these months, all these years.
  * Donghyuck’s lips were pillowy and soft, and he could feel all of Donghyuck’s love for him even with a chaste kiss on the cheek. He felt all the butterflies exploding in his stomach and the heat rushing to his cheeks and the weightlessness filling up his head.
  * “Please… please do that again,” Mark whispered.
  * Donghyuck’s eyes crinkled up into a shy smile, leaning forward again and kissing Mark in the same spot.
  * From then on, Donghyuck could kiss Mark whenever (and wherever) he wanted.




	15. Soak Up the Sun (Johnten)

  * It was their first vacation together, ever, just the two of them
  * They’d gone on plenty of trips with their friends before they started dating
  * But this was special
  * Ten had spent weeks planning every little detail of his beach getaway with Johnny for their anniversary
  * And now they were here, swimming and soaking up the sun and laughing and kissing on the warm sand, and it was just as perfect as Ten imagined
  * Except
  * Something happened every time Johnny went off to go surf
  * Ten wasn’t much for surfing
  * So he settled for watching his hot shirtless boyfriend ride the waves expertly from his position on a towel in the shade
  * It was a good view, really
  * Better than the beach itself, Ten thought
  * The problem was?
  * All the other beachgoers seemed to agree
  * Ten watched as Johnny emerged from the water again, board under one arm and water dripping from his hair
  * He watched as Johnny made his way up the shoreline
  * Only to be stopped by a bikini-clad girl, who immediately slipped her arm through his and began talking
  * Johnny was clearly not interested
  * He nodded politely and tried to extricate himself from the situation
  * But even after the girl left, she was replaced by a cute guy
  * Talking Johnny’s ear off and carefully leading them in the opposite direction of Ten’s spot
  * Ten frowned, remembering a conversation he’d had with Johnny, just weeks earlier
  * Johnny had confessed that all the attention Ten got made him insecure, sometimes
  * That he sometimes felt less than good enough to be with his boyfriend
  * Ten had been so angry with him for even thinking something like that
  * But now…
  * Maybe he understood, a little
  * Johnny had always gotten attention, too
  * He was usually just too nice to see it for what it really was, Ten thought
  * But he was just as handsome as Ten
  * Just as much of a catch
  * And now, today on the beach, that point was being proven repeatedly
  * Ten didn’t  _like_ to consider himself a jealous person, honestly
  * He didn’t really have to, when all of he and Johnny’s mutual friends did a good job constantly reminding him that he  _definitely_ was
  * He tried hard to be cool when his boyfriend got hit on
  * But as he watched the fourth person in Johnny’s line of beach admirers shoot their shot, Ten was officially fed up
  * He sprang off his beach towel, marching down the shore towards Johnny
  * Johnny was still holding his surfboard, looking pleasantly befuddled and inconvenienced by this latest attack
  * Ten really didn’t know what he was going to do, before he did it
  * But he made it to where Johnny stood, wedging himself in between Johnny and the girl, pointedly facing Johnny with a dangerously aggressive smile on his face
  * Johnny blinked as Ten entered his field of vision, giving him a slow, sideways grin
  * “Hey, baby. What’s–”
  * Ten didn’t let Johnny finish his sentence
  * He threw himself at his boyfriend, locking their lips together hard and fast and a little sloppy
  * Somewhere in the middle of the kiss, Johnny dropped his surfboard so he could pull Ten even closer
  * A moment after that, Ten heard a small noise of disgust come from the misinformed flirt behind him
  * Then the sounds of walking away
  * Ten tried not to smile too victoriously as he broke the kiss
  * Johnny’s eyes were smiling enough for both of them anyway, as they struggled to catch their breath
  * “What was that all about?” Johnny questioned, stooping down to pick up his surfboard and follow Ten back up the beach
  * Ten shrugged nonchalantly
  * “Nothin’. You just looked like you needed a kiss,” he replied innocently, and a few steps behind him, Johnny chuckled
  * “From you? Always.”




	16. Vlieve (Markhyuck)

  * Another Vlive.
  * Another chance to quietly pine over Mark through the video playback feed.
  * Donghyuck sighed, but Jaemin wasn’t gonna let him suffer in silence.
  * “What’s wrong, Donghyuckie?”
  * “Oh, you know. The usual.” He figured that if he was vague, Jaemin would fill in the blank with a boring assumption.
  * “Tired?”
  * Like that.
  * Renjun scoffed, still scrolling through his phone. “Yeah. Right.”
  * Donghyuck frowned while Jaemin innocently took Renjun’s bait, his brow furrowed and expression confused. Donghyuck wanted to melt into a puddle – Renjun was the most astute, and he had known for  _months_  about Donghyuck’s crush. Hell, Renjun knew before Donghyuck knew.
  * And today was the day Injunnie ended his life.
  * “It’s Mark,” Renjun cryptically explained to the ever-oblivious Jaemin, who turned to face Donghyuck.
  * “Mark?” Jaemin quizzed. “You don’t like Mark, Hyuckie?”
  * Donghyuck watched as Renjun rolled his eyes, the panic starting to take over as his big dark secrets started spreading right in front of him. Right before a Vlive with all of them, no less. “The opposite, dumbass.”
  * Jaemin frowned at the insult before his eyes widened and his mouth formed a small ‘o.’ Donghyuck buried his face into his hands, trying to disappear forever. “You – you  _like_  Mark?”
  * “Who likes who?” another voice barged in, and Donghyuck nearly jumped out of his skin. It was  _Mark_ and his deep voice, and Donghyuck prayed that the older boy didn’t hear any of that before their Dream Vlive.
  * “Nothing!” Donghyuck spat out. “Nobody likes anybody.”
  * Mark’s bewildered expression only got worse while Jaemin started giggling uncontrollably. Renjun had a knowing little smirk on his face, and it was times like this where Donghyuck wished the sassy part of his brain worked around Mark. 
  * While he was busy chewing on his lower lip, the rest of his group burst into the room and grabbed seats for their group Vlive. By the time Donghyuck collected himself, he looked at a row of six seats –  _six_ seats for their group of  _seven_.
  * Renjun shrugged. “Staff said they only had six seats.”
  * Donghyuck shot him a dirty look – he didn’t trust Renjun as far as he could throw him. “I’ll just sit on the floor,” he muttered.
  * “Absolutely not,” Mark spoke up, grabbing Donghyuck’s waist and quickly pulling him up. Donghyuck instantly went limp, letting Mark tug him close and place Donghyuck on his lap. “You can sit here.”
  * One of the staff members started counting down for the start of their Vlive, but Donghyuck was so focused on trying to fight his flushed face and shooting Jaemin, who was laughing loudly, the dirtiest look he could muster with bright-red cheeks that he wasn’t ready for their greeting.
  * Donghyuck immediately pulled out his phone to read the comments starting to pour in. Immediately, dozens of comments were about  _Donghyuckie_  in  _Mark’s_  lap and just how  _cute_  they looked.
  * “Cizennies, don’t you think Mark and Haechan are cute?” Jaemin quickly asked the camera, shooting Donghyuck a knowing look. 
  * Mark laughed a little, and Donghyuck could feel himself bounce a little in Mark’s lap. “I don’t know, I think it’s all Haechannie,” Mark replied, wrapping his arms around Donghyuck’s waist. It was all too much for Donghyuck, who blushed even more.
  * “We’re – we’re not that cute!” Donghyuck insisted, but his unsure voice betrayed him.
  * “Is Donghyuckie getting shy?” Renjun quickly interrogated. “How  _cute_.”
  * Mark started laughing again, his eyes darting around the room for any help at all. The managers were telling them to move it along, but Chenle and Jaemin kept cooing over the two of them until Jeno brought them back on topic.
  * “Okay, everybody, let’s start with one fact about the members that you think Cizennies don’t know,” Jeno instructed, reading off his cue card. “Let’s start with Mark! What do you think Cizennies don’t know about Haechan?”
  * Of course.
  * Of. Course.
  * Donghyuck squirmed in his seat – Mark’s lap – while the older boy pretended to be deep in thought. 
  * “Oh, I got it!” Mark exclaimed. “One thing about Haechannie is that he  _loves_ getting kisses.”
  * The rest of the group started howling in laughter, and Jaemin shouted for him to demonstrate. Donghyuck’s cheeks were completely flushed now; he was a blushing mess.
  * Oh god.
  * Mark wasn’t saying no.
  * Donghyuck glanced back at Mark, but the older boy had a knowing glint in his own fond eyes. Instead of shrugging the dumb suggestion off, Mark leaned in toward Donghyuck and kissed him on the cheek.
  * In front of the cameras.
  * In front of all the Cizennies.
  * “Haechannie’s too cute not to kiss,” Mark sing-songed. “So cute!”




	17. Hot Blooded (Markhyuck)

  * “Ow!” Donghyuck yelped suddenly, pulling away from his boyfriend in the backseat of Mark’s car
  * Mark’s eyes widened, watching Donghyuck raise a hand to his mouth
  * Watching his fingers come back wet with blood
  * Oh.
  * Oh NO.
  * Mark ran his tongue along his upper teeth, feeling for the two extra sharp points he knew had appeared, suddenly
  * “Um,” he started, staring at Donghyuck with those wide eyes, still
  * “Um… I’m… I’m so sorry, Donghyuck. I…”
  * He expected Donghyuck to scream and run away
  * Slam the car door and never look back
  * That would have been a reasonable response, probably
  * Instead, Donghyuck scooted back towards him, and when he moved his hand, Mark could see his bottom lip still bleeding
  * “Let me see,” Donghyuck said calmly, tilting his head to gaze at his boyfriend
  * His fangs were about the last thing Mark wanted Donghyuck to see
  * Actually, he really just wanted to get back to making out
  * It was the first time they’d done it, and Mark had definitely not been prepared
  * He’d kissed a lot of people before, sure
  * You don’t live a hundred years without gaining some experience
  * But nobody kissed like Donghyuck
  * No one else had ever kissed Mark exactly how he liked to be kissed on the first try
  * Donghyuck was amazing
  * Donghyuck was so hot
  * As a vampire, when Mark got riled up, his fangs tended to pop out and be all… inconvenient
  * He’d lost a lot of makeout partners to this very situation, in the past
  * But Donghyuck was his boyfriend, and he really, really didn’t want to lose Donghyuck
  * Blushing, Mark opened his mouth a little, baring his fangs so Donghyuck could see them properly
  * As properly as he could in the dark car in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, anyway
  * Donghyuck reached out and cupped Mark’s pale, cold face in his hands, inspecting each fang
  * Mark could still taste Donghyuck’s blood dripping off of them
  * It was so sweet, so rich that Mark could have died, if he wasn’t already dead
  * Donghyuck let Mark go after a moment, frowning
  * “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked simply.
  * Mark closed his mouth, snorting and glancing away
  * “Seriously? That’s not something you just tell someone, Hyuck.”
  * Donghyuck rolled his eyes. “I thought we could tell each other anything,” he countered.
  * Mark sighed. “I mean, we can. It’s just that ‘hey, by the way, I’m a vampire and if you ever turn me on enough, I might bite you’ isn’t exactly casual conversation material.”
  * Donghyuck was just staring at him now, a funny little smile on his face
  * Almost a smirk
  * Mark frowned. “What?”
  * Donghyuck licked his barely bleeding lip, looking up at Mark from under hooded, unfairly bedroom eyes.
  * “I turn you on?”
  * Mark felt his jaw drop
  * “Oh my god. Of course you do, Hyuck.”
  * Of all the things Mark felt about and for Donghyuck, he’d thought that had been pretty obvious, so far
  * Donghyuck grinned, shifting across the backseat so he was practically sitting in Mark’s lap
  * Hands cradling Mark’s face again
  * “Tell me again,” Donghyuck murmured, before he leaned in to kiss Mark
  * Mark groaned softly, trying to make his brain work fast enough to think of something by the time he needed to take a breath
  * “You’re literally, like, so hot, Hyuck. You have to know that,” Mark told his boyfriend breathlessly a minute later when they pulled away from each other
  * Donghyuck shrugged. “Maybe I do. But I like hearing you say it,” he answered, before he leaned back in for more kisses
  * Mark’s fangs were out again, but he was being careful this time
  * Careful not to accidentally sink them into anywhere again
  * Unless, y’know. Unless Donghyuck asked him to.
  * Oh god.
  * Mark nearly whimpered at that thought
  * Donghyuck looked extremely victorious, sitting on his lap, his own teeth sunk into the spot Mark had pierced on his bottom lip
  * “Everything about you is incredible,” Mark panted out, when they took another break
  * “You drive me crazy, and honestly? The fact that you’re not freaking out about this whole vampire thing is the sexiest thing ever,” Mark admitted
  * Donghyuck laughed, the sound a little throatier than usual
  * “Maybe we’re both crazy,” he murmured, leaving a trail of kisses down Mark’s neck
  * Mark felt him pause. “I can’t believe I never noticed there wasn’t a pulse,” Donghyuck muttered, almost to himself
  * It made Mark laugh, on top of being ridiculously turned on
  * “We’re definitely both crazy,” he agreed, as Donghyuck kissed lower, along his collarbones
  * “But at least we’re crazy about each other.”




	18. Point the Bottle (Jaenoren)

  * “I hope there are snacks,” Renjun muttered. “There better be snacks, Jaeminnie.”
  * “Um, I have rice cakes and cookies?” Jaemin piped up, hoping that what he brought was enough for his two perpetually-hungry best friends. They were just playing Spin the Bottle, but he knew his friends – they needed sustenance after, like, five minutes.
  * “Are they my  _favorite_ cookies?” Jeno pointedly asked.
  * “Of course.”
  * Jaemin breathed a sigh of relief when Jeno’s skeptical face suddenly softened, his brilliant smile making Jaemin’s heart leap. Renjun also seemed satisfying, mostly because he wasn’t savaging the idea of doing something at the god forsaken sleeping hour of 10 pm.
  * (Renjun was a sleepy boi.)
  * To be honest? Jaemin was more nervous than he should’ve been for a dumb get-together with his two best friends. 
  * Like, clammy hands and exasperated laughter nervous.
  * See, the truth was that Jaemin… well, Jaemin wanted to be  _more_  than best friends with Jeno and Renjun. He was always telling the two of them that he loved them, but he was 100% sure that the  _love_  he was saying was different than the  _love_  they were hearing.
  * Jeno? Well, Jeno was the softest boy alive. He loved to smile and laugh and whine and smile some more – he was the king on unintentional cuteness. Jeno always knew how to cheer him up, and he always was there to brighten up his days. Not to mention… well, Jaemin really liked it when Jeno hugged him for  _reasons_. 
  * Renjun, though, was a little more reserved and quiet. Yet he was also extremely observant, and he could ratchet it up from 0 to 100 real fast. He was snarky, sassy, and everything that kept the three of them, well, explosive. Renjun was the spark for their little group, but he also knew when to turn off the snark and turn on the tender, caring soul that he always had in his back pocket.
  * Even right now, during the silent walk back to their dorm, Jaemin was comfortable. He was always comfortable with Renjun and Jeno.
  * It took ten minutes in his room for things to get ridiculous.
  * They were using an empty Coke bottle, and it seemed to keep choosing Renjun, who was starting to get in a huff. At this point, he kept choosing “Truth” after Jeno dared him to go talk to Taeyong without calling him “hyung.”
  * (Taeyong laid into him for a good five minutes.)
  * Jaemin figured they’d been playing for long enough to start asking  _his_ questions.
  * And Jeno was awful at truth. Case in point: “what’s your favorite flower?” was his last question.
  * (Maybe he wasn’t totally awful because Jaemin made at least twenty mental notes of what to get Renjun for his next birthday.)
  * “Injunnie, do you like anyone in NCT?” Jaemin slowly asked. “Like,  _like_  like anyone?”
  * Their usually raucous group was almost dead-silent after this dare. Renjun seemed a little mortified and Jeno was immensely interested in Renjun’s answer, humming in anticipation.
  * “Um, well,” Renjun quietly started. “Yeah, I do.”
  * Jaemin tried to fight the ridiculous smile that was tugging at his lips. Meanwhile, Jeno immediately pestered Renjun about who it was.
  * “You only get one truth, asshole,” Renjun muttered, munching on another rice cake.
  * The next spin finally landed on not-Renjun. Jaemin took dare and was promptly told to go re-arrange and hide Taeil’s toiletries in the bathroom.
  * (RIP Jaemin 2000 - 2018.)
  * Finally, Jeno was forced to do something, and he quickly selected dare.
  * Jaemin decided to go with another one of  _his_  suggestions. “Kiss Renjun on the lips.”
  * Renjun immediately went slack-jawed, looking completely betrayed. Jeno was a sputtering mess, and Jaemin was quite proud of himself.
  * “Can you – can you give me something else?”
  * “That’s the dare, Jeno,” Jaemin quickly answered. “The truth would be ‘Why didn’t you want to kiss Renjun on the lips’ and you would have to be truthful, so…”
  * “I didn’t agree to this!” Renjun protested, crossing his arms.
  * Jeno looked mildly defeated, and, against Renjun’s whining, leaned in for a short kiss before recoiling immediately. Renjun was blushing and Jeno had buried his own face in the palms of his hands.
  * Jaemin was extremely proud of himself until Renjun finally got over himself and spun the bottle, landing on Jaemin again.
  * “ _Kiss Jeno on the lips!_ ” he shouted loudly.
  * Jaemin shrugged while Jeno peeked out from behind his hands. He couldn’t help but notice just how  _red_  Jeno’s cheeks were. This was going way better than he expected, to be honest.
  * He nonchalantly leaned forward and kissed Jeno on the lips, trying to ignore the urge to give his best friend anything other than a short kiss even though his lips tasted like strawberry and felt like heaven.
  * He didn’t have much time to recover til the bottle landed on Renjun, who was promptly told to kiss Jaemin on the lips.
  * Renjun grumbled under his breath, but he did as he was told, quickly spinning the bottle after Jaemin got his second piece of heaven for the night.
  * When the bottle landed on Jaemin again and he said “Truth,” the first thing that spilled out of Renjun’s sounded like an admonishment.
  * “Why the hell did you make Jeno kiss me?”
  * “And how did getting a kiss from Renjun feel?” Jeno quickly added.
  * It was Jaemin’s turn to be a mess, trying to find the right words to say until he finally gave up and decided to say the truth.
  * “I, uh, you know, kinda liked it?” Jaemin stammered. 
  * “I  _really_  liked it,” he corrected himself. “Because I really like both of you. Like,  _like_ like both of you.”
  * The room was dead silent again while the two other boys absorbed what Jaemin just said.
  * Jaemin turned his attention to the bottle, pointing it at Jeno first, who was even more of a blushing mess now.
  * “ _Truth_. Do you like me and Renjun?”
  * “ _Yes_ ,” Jeno squeaked out, smiling more than Jaemin had ever seen him smile before.
  * Jaemin pointed the bottle at Renjun.
  * “ _Truth_. Do you like me and Jeno?”
  * “Yeah. I do,” Renjun whispered, his voice small and a little unsure.
  * Jaemin pointed the bottle at himself.
  * “ _Dare_. I have to kiss both of you again.”




	19. You're An Idiot, Wong Yukhei (Hyuckhei)

  * It was just a tossed off comment, really
  * Yukhei hadn’t meant anything by it
  * They’d only been playing around, and Donghyuck had said “You’re such a Gryffindor sometimes, Yukhei”
  * So Yukhei had laughed and replied, “I’ve never actually read or seen Harry Potter, Hyuck.”
  * He’d said it  _because it was true_
  * But he’d had no idea that it would be enough to cause all of this
  * Immediately, Donghyuck’s jaw had dropped, a look of absolute indignance crossing his face
  * “Oh, my  _god_.”
  * Yukhei had just sort of blinked back at him, clueless as to what he’d done
  * “Oh my fucking  _god_ ,” Donghyuck said again
  * “That’s it. You’re literally dead to me.”
  * Yukhei frowned. “What? How??”
  * He was really just  _very_ confused
  * They were only books, after all
  * Books and movies
  * Surely that wasn’t enough to cancel a whole friendship
  * _“Literally fucking dead to me,_ ” Donghyuck repeated
  * Apparently it was
  * Also, it was kind of adorable when Donghyuck cursed
  * Like those videos of babies saying words that sort of sounded naughty
  * But of course they don’t know that, because they’re  _babies_
  * Donghyuck was only a little younger than Yukhei, but he was still a kid in Yukhei’s eyes
  * Yet there he was, crossing his arms and looking like Yukhei’d just slapped his mother
  * Repeating “ _Dead. To. Me,_ ” over and over like it was the only phrase he could come up with, as offended as he was
  * Finally, Donghyuck rolled his eyes
  * “Whatever you’re doing today, you’re not doing it anymore,” he decided
  * Yukhei was at a loss
  * “I don’t have the books here, they’re back at my parents’ house, but…”
  * Donghyuck trailed off, digging through the huge stack of DVDs they kept in a messy box next to the TV at the dorm
  * “We’re going to sit here and watch all eight of these movies, Yukhei. I can’t let you go another day without experiencing Harry Potter.”
  * Donghyuck’s arm re-emerged from the box, cradling exactly eight DVDs
  * Yukhei swallowed hard
  * He didn’t exactly have the attention span for one movie
  * Let alone eight, regardless of how much he was enjoying them
  * Nevertheless, he let Donghyuck put on the first movie and all but pin him down on the couch, throwing his legs over Yukhei’s lap so he couldn’t escape
  * And they were off
  * Throughout the first and second movies, Donghyuck peppered in little facts from the books, storylines that hadn’t made it to the movies and why they were important
  * Yukhei listened, kind of
  * After a while, though, he was less listening or even watching the movies than just sort of gazing at Donghyuck while he talked
  * Donghyuck was usually a bright, sunny person, for sure
  * But Yukhei had never seen him so  _excited_ about something
  * So genuinely  _passionate_ about anything, except music and singing
  * It was kind of amazing to watch, so he did
  * He absorbed enough information to get by, of course
  * By the fourth movie, he felt that he was less a Gryffindor than a Gryffinpuff, maybe, though
  * Donghyuck agreed proudly when Yukhei voiced that thought
  * It seemed to be enough to make him happy
  * Make him feel like Yukhei was paying attention
  * And he  _totally_ was
  * Just, not only to the movies
  * They didn’t get through all eight of them in one day, like Donghyuck had threatened
  * They made it through five before Donghyuck was yawning so much that they had to call it a night
  * Yukhei went back to his room and tried to sleep, but his mind was racing too much to let him
  * Grabbing his tablet, he quickly searched and bought copies of the entire series and downloaded them
  * He started at the beginning again, smiling when he got to things that he remembered Donghyuck telling him
  * They didn’t have another free day after that for a while, but when they did, Yukhei was ready
  * He made popcorn and got out two bottles of soda, lining up the last three movies carefully on the table in the living room before he texted Donghyuck to come join him
  * When Donghyuck saw the trouble Yukhei had gone to, he couldn’t stop smiling, even as the movies got darker and darker
  * By the time the last movie ended, Donghyuck was asleep again, dozing on Yukhei’s shoulder as the credits rolled
  * Yukhei couldn’t bring himself to wake Donghyuck when he looked so peaceful and happy
  * He got out his tablet carefully, gingerly, taking care not to disturb the younger boy
  * Yukhei read himself to sleep that night, right there on the couch with Donghyuck
  * He was on the third book by then, and he couldn’t wait until the next morning, when he could ask Donghyuck all the questions that were rolling around in his mind
  * He couldn’t wait to talk more about this universe that had captured his heart, to share it with the boy who’d captured it first.




	20. Dr. Mark (Markhyuck)

  * “Great, well now we’re down to one brain cell,” Taeil muttered, massaging Donghyuck’s shoulders.
  * Taeyong looked over at the oldest, the ever-stressed leader too frazzled to even get their running joke for the past three weeks. “Huh?”
  * Donghyuck was a little amused, watching as Taeil shook his head. “We had two brain cells as a group. One was Donghyuck’s and one was mine. And now Sicheng just killed Donghyuck’s brain cell, so now we’re  _extra_  stupid.”
  * The look on Taeyong’s face while Taeil nonchalantly explained their own inside joke was priceless. It was like watching a Cizennie meet Jaemin for the first-time – Taeyong was short-circuiting, like he couldn’t possibly deal with or comprehend what was in front of him. Despite, you know, actually knowing everything about it.
  * “I thought Hyuckie had both brain cells?” Doyoung lilted, earning an unamused look from Taeil. “Brought you a juicebox, by the way.”
  * Donghyuck shot a smile toward Doyoung, grabbing the juicebox out of his hand and poking the straw through the top. If there was one thing that Doyoung knew about all the younger members, it was what flavor juicebox to get them when they were down. For Donghyuck, it was grape. “Thanks,” he murmured.
  * Doyoung nodded. “It’s the least I can do for our maknae who took Sicheng’s foot to the head.”
  * The whole group reacted to that one: Taeil giggled a little and Taeyong rolled his eyes. “He’s too flexible for his own good,” Taeil deadpanned.
  * “I need to talk to him,” Taeyong said to no one in particular. “He can’t be kicking our maknae in the head, what the hell was he thinking?”
  * Donghyuck shook his head. “It wasn’t his fault, I was in the wrong –”
  * “ICE PACKS INCOMING!”
  * Everyone perked up to look at the source of the voice: a very loud, determined-looking Mark with two ice packs in-hand and a disgruntled Sicheng behind him.
  * “Sicheng, I thought –” Taeyong started, a slight level of annoyance present in his voice.
  * “– I was, until protective boytoy over here nearly tackled me to the ground,” Sicheng explained. “Sorry again.”
  * “Don’t worry about –”
  * “– EVERYBODY OUT,” Mark shouted, holding one of the ice packs up to Donghyuck’s forehead. No one even protested, not wanting to deal with Mark in whatever manic state he was in now. Doyoung and Taeil snickered, but Taeyong seemed more concerned with nagging Sicheng.
  * “Me too?” Donghyuck lilted, trying to lift himself up from the chair he was currently sitting in. Mark quickly pushed him back down, pressing the ice pack against his head.
  * Mark looked deadly serious. “Not you, you have a traumatic head injury, Donghyuckie, you need to rest right now. You might have a concussion!”
  * Donghyuck snickered, a little smitten by how concerned Mark was. “Babe, the real doctor already said I didn’t have one.”
  * “WELL WHAT IF HE WASN’T A DOCTOR?” Mark shouted. “WHAT IF HE WAS WRONG?”
  * “Do you wanna tell that to his medical degree, or should I?”
  * Mark switched from the first ice pack to the second, pressing the cool plastic up against Donghyuck’s forehead. “Does it hurt?” he asked. “Sicheng kicked you pretty hard, that little shit.”
  * “He’s taller than you,” Donghyuck teased, smirking at Mark.
  * His boyfriend was unmoved. “Does it hurt, Hyuckie?”
  * Donghyuck rolled his eyes – he had an idea.
  * “Actually,” Donghyuck replied, coughing a little. “It hurts – it hurts a lot.”
  * “Ohmygod, do I need to –”
  * “– I need,” Donghyuck dramatically croaked out, fake-struggling to reach up toward Mark’s face. “I need… a kiss on my booboo.”
  * Mark hollered in protest, talking a million words a minute about how  _serious_  his injury was and how it wasn’t something to joke about and how worried he was and…
  * … Well, this was why Donghyuck loved him.
  * “So I don’t get my kiss?” he interjected.
  * Mark stopped mid-nag and looked over at Donghyuck. He rolled his eyes and lifted the ice pack. Leaning in quickly, Mark kissed him on the forehead and put the ice pack right back where it had been.
  * “Thank you, Dr. Mark,” Donghyuck hummed to a slightly-blushing Mark.




	21. Stingy (Markhyuck)

  * “Mark.  _Mark._ MARK!!”
  * Mark snapped himself out of his thoughts, whipping his head around to stare at Johnny
  * “Huh?”
  * Johnny shook his head in amusement, nodding across the room, and Mark’s eyes followed
  * Donghyuck was napping in Jeno’s lap, and Mark was  _suffering._
  * Mark sighed “So?”
  * Johnny shrugged, sitting back on his hands on the practice room floor
  * “I dunno, man. It kinda seems like Hyuck’s avoiding you,” Johnny stated, ever the perfect Captain Obvious
  * Mark frowned, watching Donghyuck crack one eye open and glare at him, a challenge in his eyes
  * “No, he’s just… I don’t live with him anymore,” Mark started awkwardly. “He’s just spending more time with the other guys now.”
  * “Uh huh,” Johnny answered, clearly not buying it one bit
  * “What’d you do, Mark Lee?”
  * “I didn’t do anything!” Mark protested futilely. “I just… I maybe just…” 
  * He trailed off
  * “Let me guess,” Johnny interjected, rubbing the sides of his forehead and pretending to think really,  _really_ hard
  * “You… told yourself it would be okay when you moved out of the Dreamie dorm. You convinced yourself you wouldn’t miss Donghyuck trying to cuddle with you 24/7.”
  * Mark didn’t say anything to that, so Johnny went on.
  * “You convinced yourself of that  _so hard_ that you started avoiding him every chance you got, being  _extra_ stingy with the cuddles, just so you wouldn’t have to admit that you  _do_ miss him.”
  * Mark groaned. “What the hell?? Why are you like this?” he whined
  * Johnny just grinned. “What, intelligent, tall  _and_ dashingly handsome? Just lucky, I guess,” he joked, making Mark roll his eyes
  * A moment later, Johnny turned serious again
  * “But, honestly, dude? Everyone can tell you hurt his feelings, and he’s retaliating in his typical petty way. Fix it.”
  * Mark ran a hand through his hair. “You make it sound so easy.”
  * The grin on Johnny’s face widened, until it was almost dangerous-looking. “ _Fix it,_ Mark Lee.”
  * Mark gulped loudly.



* * *

  * Mark waited until everyone else was asleep, to sneak over to the Dream dorm
  * He crept through the familiar front room and hallway as quietly as he could, counting the doors until he got to Donghyuck’s room
  * Donghyuck was in bed, facing away from Mark as he opened the door slowly
  * He looked so small, all curled in on himself
  * It made Mark weak all over again, just like it always did
  * Sighing, Mark tiptoed across the room and slid into Donghyuck’s bed behind him, wrapping one arm around Donghyuck’s belly and pressing close
  * He wasn’t sure if he wanted Donghyhuck to wake up or not
  * As it turned out, he didn’t have a choice in the matter
  * “They always come back for more,” Donghyuck murmured, voice husky with sleep
  * Mark snorted. “ _They_? I thought I was your only cuddle buddy,” he protested with a small laugh
  * Donghyuck yawned, patting Mark’s hand placatingly
  * “Jaemin might have something to say about that, now,” he whispered sleepily, but Mark didn’t get a chance to press the issue
  * They both nodded off a few moments later, comfortable and happy to be in each other’s arms again.




End file.
